Food for Thought...
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So I've been watching the Production diaries over at KongisKing.net (http://www.kongisking.net), and the other night I caught John Carpenter's The Thing on the picture box. It's got me to thinking about different remakes and the purpose of the remake in cinema.
First of all, does anyone think that a movie should never be remade? I used to think this, but not anymore. I think the remake serves a useful purpose in filmdom. I think The Thing is a better film that The Thing from Another World, and I think Peter Jackson's Kong will be better than the original and much better than the Jessica Lange version (which to be fair did sport brief nudity, so it's not total crap). Sometimes, remaking a film can revitalize the story and introduce a new audience, like with Cape Fear. It can also take an old story in a new direction, as was the case with Scarface and hopefully prove to be the case with Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory over time.
But then there are the films like Gus Van Sant's Psycho, which defies all logic; Vanilla Sky, which would have been better if I never saw the original; and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which managed to make a movie about a chainsaw wielding psycho boring and only served to reintroduce us to Jessica Beil's breasts. I'm talking about the stinkaroo remakes. The list could go on forever: Shaft, Planet of the Apes, The Nutty Professor, The Haunting, etc.
Then there is the American remake of a foreign film - recently this has been big in the horror genre: The Ring & The Grudge. Is this okay? It does introduce a new audience, but from what I've seen the movies can change in the translation.
Basically, I'd like to get everyone's thoughts on remakes and why they do or don't like them.
but some, such as police academy coming out next year, and willie wonka, are totally uncalled for.
because all movie makers focus on is making money, people will pay money to see a remake, it may not be good, but they will pay.
its not good enough for them to have a mansion and a yacht. they need more money... this is why movies are always coming out on friday, of saturday, becuase thats when most people wanna see a flick.
thinks should change for the better, and have movies made becuae they should be made, and tell a great story to the crowd...
How was that "necessary"? George Pal's "War of the Worlds" was a landmark in Sci Fi cinema, and special effects. The remake didn't do it justice, IMO, and was used to get someone's politcal agenda out there.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with the original, and I can't wait for someone to come along and rape "Forbidden Planet", "This Island Earth" or "When Worlds Collide", then I'll stop watching movies altogether.
Most remakes aren't necessary, muchless asked for by the general movie going public, and are usually stubborn writers and directors that think they can improve on something with total disregard for the classics.
I think it all depends on how good the remake is, ya know, did they stay true to the original type of thing. But it also depends on how good the original was. Because, if the original wasn't any good, then by all means, go ahead and do a remake that will be better. Remakes appeal more to the newer generation IMO...
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It depends on what the original was like, sometimes updating them with newer special effects can be better but sometimes they just seem to bring remakes out for the sake of it
My favorite part about remakes is the simple fact that it gets the word out about the original that may have been forgotten about with everyday people. I've had several occasions where a remake comes out and I tell myself, if they remade it, the original must be pretty good. So I go and watch it even if I never thought about it before.
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Depends on the movie and how long since the original came out. Wonka and Bad News Bears were way to soon for a remake, War of the Worlds was about right.... I think we should atleast wait around 50 years before remaking anything
but to others the remake has a larger impact on the audience.
I found the movie exellent (besides the minor mistakes).
but that does not mean i didn't enjoy the original! the original was great i loved it. but if someone made a remake of say..... "big trouble in little china town" or "anywhich way but loose" i would be royaly pissed off and would nueter the producer,writer and director with a rusty fork.
I'm still wondering why you thought a remake was necessary, though? Spielberg's "interpretation", since he clearly stated it wasn't a remake, regardless of the lengths he went to make comparisons, was just a CGI horror movie.
The original took some incredible risks, namely, the preacher who's reading scriptures before he falls victim to a careless death ray.
I dont want to say that there should be no remakes, because some of them turn out fine. I enjoyed Willy Wonka and WotW, I didnt need them to be remade, but I did enjoy them.
But on the flipside there are plenty I wish werent remade.
The only thing that can truly justify a remake is how it holds up to time. I think the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a sad excuse for a film, and I understand people like it. However, this does not mean it will have staying power like the original did. Burton's objective was to 'replace' the original with his own (in my opinion) lesser version. I highly doubt, in the age of 10 second thinking, that this movie will be thought of long. It will be around for a while, because it's new, and of course when the DvD comes out, but after that people will probably forget about it. This has happened with countless remakes. Can anyone say, "Planet of the Apes?" Here is the kicker for you all. I never saw the original till I saw the new PotA and I liked the original better. LOL!!! The new one was a piece of crap. Hey, didn't Burton do that one too?
P.S. The odds are, if you don’t understand the reference to 10 second thinking, you’re probably in that demographic.
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Remakes can serve a purpose if nothing else then to inform people of the original. I come from a smaller town with no good place rent or buy movies aside from new releases. I would never have seen rigu if it weren't for the ring, or the original the grudge. Agreed that these remakes do no justice to the originals but they can open up old movies to new audiences
I have mixed feelings towards this. There are some movies that just shouldn't be touched (Casablanca, African Queen...), yet there's a few remakes that I think are equal to or superior than the original (the Fly. WOTW, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Blob, The Thing...). Most remakes, however, are terrible.
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Jul 20th, 2005 04:14 PM
